Hacker's Plan
by Daniel Keyes008
Summary: Ledge is coming back! Hacker will try to get him on his team and infiltrate the Cybersquad. The ships will include Matt/Inez and Slider/Jackie, however, Matt/Inez will be more prevalent. This is my first fanfiction story ever. P.S. Please try to read my stories in order. Thanks! P.P.S. I am only 14, so it probably won't be too good. But please, PLEASE write REVIEWS.
1. Chapter 1

**(Author's Note: Sorry if this story is a little bad, especially at the beginning. This is my first story ever, and I'm only 14. Please review my stories and PM if you want more stories, or if you have any changes for me to make. I'm very strange, but I only will write CyberChase stories, and my favorite ships are Matt/Inez and Slider/Jackie. But it's mostly Matt/Inez. ****I will only read and write one-shots if I am bored. **I'm a guy, so if the Inez and Jackie parts come out bad, just tell me and I'll try to fix it and/or make it better. Just so you know, I check my account every one or two days, so I'll see what you say. Thanks! Based on one or two comments, I've improved it a tiny, little, itty bit. PLEASE REVIEW AND PM ME IF YOU WANT A NEW CHAPTER OR IF YOU WANT ME TO FIX SOMETHING! That includes if you think the story is too mushy, or if you want more romance or action. I'll try to not put more than 2 chapters of romance, or more than 3 chapters of action in a row. Please tell me if you want more romance, or, if it is too mushy. I love suggestions, so send me some if you any.)

Matt didn't feel like doing much today; he was tired, and sad, after the Cybersquad's mission. The Cybersquad was made up of red-haired 13-year old Matt, and his two best friends: African-American 13-year old Jackie, and Hispanic 11-year old Inez. Apart from being middle schoolers, they had an important job: keeping cyberspace safe from "The" Hacker and all the other bad guys, like Wicked.

Even though Matt knew that he was supposed to be joking all the time, he wasn't in the mood for that right now. He was just distracted, replaying the scene in his head over and over:

_Slider walked over, saying hello to the Cybersquad. _

"_Hey, Matt. Hi there, Jackie; what's up, Nezzie?" _

_Inez just blushed, giggled, and shook her head, her brown shoulder-length hair half covering her head. _

"_Hi, Slider!" piped up Jackie, also looking embarrassed and happy that Slider was there._

_Matt could barely keep a civil tongue in his head; he was burning with hatred and jealousy towards Slider. Imagine Inez letting him call her Nezzie, when sometimes he (Matt) would get yelled at, "Don't call me Nezzie!" even before he finished saying the nickname. _

"_Hello, Slider," said Matt through gritted teeth. He felt as if his teeth would be pushed into his gums with the amount of pressure he was putting on them. Imagine Inez, who seemed almost as emotionless, and intelligent, as a Vulcan (most of the time), blushing and giggling like a little girl. All Matt could think about was her face, even−no, especially−half covered with that chocolatey-brown hair was so beautifu−'__**Cut that out!' he said to himself, 'She's my friend, I can't think about her like that! What would she say if she heard me?!'**_

"Right, Matt?" said Inez, snapping him out of his flashback.

"Huh, what's that you said?" Matt responded, his face red as he reviewed his last thoughts about Inez.

"I said: 'right, Matt?'" Inez responded, slightly annoyed at his lack of attention.

"I heard that; I didn't hear what you were saying before that, Nezzie," said Matt.

"Don't call me Nezzie, Matthew!" yelled Inez.

Jackie chose now to interrupt their conversation/argument:

"Daydreaming about someone _special_?" she prodded, knowing full well the answer to the question, and who that "someone special" was.

"No, Jackie! I was just, uh, um," Matt stuttered, "I was relaxing! That's what I was doing, yeah, relaxing." he continued unconvincingly.

Inez felt herself getting fluttery inside. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she didn't like it. She decided to change the subject, so she asked, "What should we do now? I'm getting kind of bored."

Jackie shot Inez a knowing glance, but Inez didn't notice it. So Jackie answered, "Let's go to my house, I have tons of movies."

Matt, seeing his opportunity to make them forget about his blunder, answered quickly, "Yeah, that's a great idea!"

On the way to Jackie's house he continued with his reflections about Slider. '_**He's perfect to Ine−**__**I mean, the girls, **__**with his skateboarding abilities and his laid-back attitude. I just wish I was more like him.**_'

Matt didn't want to think about it anymore, so he tried to do the one thing that always made him happier, teasing Inez.

As they entered Jackie's house he asked:

"Hey, Nezzie, what type of movie do you want to watch?"

"Don't call me Nezzie, Matthew!" yelled Inez for what seemed like the 497th time.

Jackie laughed to herself as they started a tickle fight on the couch, with both of them giggling uncontrollably as they couldn't escape from each other's hands. Jackie pretended to read the back of a DVD while she watched them out of the corner of her eye. Matt was stronger, but he was also more ticklish. Inez was smaller and tried to squirm away. By accident, Matt pushed Inez's glasses off her face and onto the ground. However, they didn't break.

Matt finally won, with him squarely on top of Inez. Their faces were so close, their noses were practically touching. Matt thought, '_**Her eyes just seemed like they were made of chocolate. But they could be piercing, too, when she got mad. They're just so amazing.**_' He stopped himself before he got any further, and was yelling in his head, '_**This is wrong!**_' but he couldn't deny that he didn't want to stop.

Inez had similar thoughts, as she noticed how strong he was, how cute he was when was laughi−wait, cute?!

Matt and Inez both got red as they were in this position, and hurried to sit down on opposite ends of the couch before Jackie noticed them. Inez, in her hurry, didn't even notice that her glasses were still on the ground.

Jackie, who had watched the whole thing, said in her mind, "_**It'll happen soon, very soon, I think.**_"

"Okay, kids, how does 'A Kiss to Die For' sound?" Jackie said, pretending not to have noticed what just happened.

Matt, still red, got even redder when he noticed that the movie was a romance movie, so he called out to Jackie, "Romance movie, again? Let's watch an action movie."

Inez, who agreed, especially after the moment, said, "Matt's right, let's watch something different, maybe one about technology."

Jackie said, "Fine, but next time, we're watching romance, whether or not you like it." Jackie pretended to just now notice Inez's lack of glasses, "Hey, Nezzie, why are your glasses on the floor?"

Inez mumbled, "No reason."

As Inez picked up the glasses, both she and Matt got red, remembering the tickle fight.

Matt thought, "How come everyone but me can call her Nezzie?"

As the kids chose the movie, someone in Cyberspace was coming up with a sinister plan.

Hacker sat, defeated again, in his chair, sighing and groaning about the Earthlings. "Oh, it's no use! They've defeated me for the final time, this is the end of poor Hacker."

Hacker's useless robot helpers, Buzz and Delete, tried to console him: "Boss, I'm sure you've got another grand scheme of yours to rule Cyberspace. Don't tell me you're out of ideas. You know what, boss, let's get somebody to help, how about Wicked?"

Hacker groaned, "It'll never work now, she doesn't love me anymore. Hell has no fury like a woman scorned."

Delete said, "Well, what about that one kid, Lead, or something like that. Didn't he get almost all of the team turned into mini-Hackers?"

Hacker brightened and grinned a grin of pure evil and self-assuredness. "Of course, Ledge! I knew he'd be useful again. I'll get him back on my side, after all, it's me or the Earth brats. I know he'll never turn to them."

Buzz asked, "But Boss, isn't Ledge your arch-nemesis or something like that?"

Hacker leered, "That's the beauty of it, he'll want revenge so much, he won't care how much he dislikes me. No one else is as evil as I am, at least not by themselves, he'll practically be forced to joined me. It's perfect, foolproof! Finally, I will get rid of the Earth brats and get to control Cyberspace!" Hacker cackled like a madman, until his crazed laughter filled the entire Grim Wreaker.


	2. Chapter 2

**(A/N: Thanks to everyone who wrote reviews, even if it was negative. Don't worry about hurting my feelings, I think about it like constructive criticism. The most important thing to me is for people to take the time to read and give me suggestions, whether it is through PM's or reviews, I love it. Just tell me what you want, and as long as it I'm okay with it, I'll change it or add it. Thanks. I'm sorry about this, but there is not a lot of action in this. I'm still just setting the groundwork for the story)**

Hacker was disappointed. He had thought that Ledge would immediately agree to his plan. Instead, all he did was argue and complain about how stupid Hacker was, and how _dare_ he try to get him back on his team.

Ledge yelled, "What, did you think I would just come back and say, '_Why sure, I'll just forget that you kicked me to the curb, how you called me useless. Because that's just the kind of caring person I am. Who cares about all the things you said, because in the end, we're all friends, right?'_ Wrong! You must think I'm as stupid as you are, if I'm going to let myself be manipulated by you again."

Hacker tried to placate him through gritted teeth, his innate sense of arrogance interfering with his need to work with Ledge: "Come on, Ledge, I'm on my knees, I'm begging you to help me. I don't think you're stupid, I think you're brilliant, that's why I want your help. Don't you see, once II mean, hah, I mean we. Of course we, why would I ever say I? Because when we control Cyberspace, then we'll just take control over Earth. Then, we'll just share, maybe I'll control Cyberspace, and you take Earth, or vice versa. Don't you see how brilliant the plan is? The only thing standing in our way is those Earth brats. All they do is stop me. I'm far too old and guileless to trick them. But you, you can trick them. It'll be hard after the Hackerizing incident, but just tell them that you've seen through my lies and my trickery, and that you are tired of being manipulated by me-"

"-You mean, tell them the truth?" Ledge sneered.

"Yes, fine, 'the truth' whatever it takes to get you to do it. I don't care what you want to call it, or how you do it, just get them on your side!"

"Okay, then, I'll do it, but only if I get Earth, got it, Hacker?" spit Ledge with pure venom in his voice. "But not because you convinced me; it's because I NEED revenge against the stupid Earthlings."

"Of course, not, Ledge. I know I could never trick you, now go, and get those Earth brats on your side."

They both knew that they were going to double-cross each other as soon as they didn't need the other one, but Ledge knew he was a lot smarter than Hacker, oh wait, I forgot, it's The Hacker, to you.

'_I said I would never do anything like this, not EVER, and here I am, breaking my promise. This is so embarrassing, thank god that Jackie and Inez can't see me.'_ thought Matt. He was doing the one thing that separated him from the "giggly girls" at school that he hated: he was obsessed with finding out if _someone_ liked him. He refused to say her name, even in the privacy of his own mind. He didn't want to risk a slip-up when he talked to her. '_There's more than one "Cyberworld", there's also the Internet.' _

He typed in, "How do I know if a girl likes me?" He was surprised when he saw that it was the first thing that came up when he typed the first four words. He clicked on the first article, "How to Know if a Girl Likes You, 10 Steps"

**Step 1: All girls are different, so be aware of the signs. Listen to the tone of her voice. If she's shy, the tone of her voice might be a little softer than normal, and she might start to play with her hair (smoothing it down, twirling, flipping), adjusting her clothes, and might stare at you.**

_"Well, she's definitely shy.'_

**Step 2: Be aware that some girls have no idea that they're flirting. In this case, she probably likes you a great deal, since her subconscious is letting her body language do most of the talking. Most girls don't like to be obvious.**

** Step 3: Check for random hugs, reserved mostly for you. Hugs can be a very open and permissible affectionate way of getting closer to you and touching you without it necessarily compromising her stealthy flirting. In turn, you can go along with it if you want, or just act busy like you're late for an appointment and need to rush off.**

_'She does that all the time, but I would never reject her hug. Now that I think about it, she doesn't really hug anyone else. I wonder...'_

**Step 4: Take notice if she "accidentally" bumps into you more often than what you'd consider the usual. This ploy is ancient and tried and true, as it's a way of touching you subtly and sizing up how responsive you are. If she finds excuses to touch you a lot, then you're probably on the right track. She may also find other reasons to touch you, such as by lightly hitting you about the head, or soft punching to the body. These "one-of-the-mates" moves can be a thinly disguised way of getting closer to you without it being too evident to your friends and hers.**

'We do get into "fights" and tickle each other, but, I don't think that she means. I wish she did, but... she's just so shy and quiet. She would probably hate me if she knew what I thought about her, how beauti- SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, I CAN'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THIS!" Matt had to continue repeating the last sentence over and over like a mantra... He had to keep some control over himself, but... She was just so per-SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, I CAN'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THIS!

**Step 5: Observe the way in which she looks at you. If she likes you, she will tend to either hold her gaze on you for a long time or pull away immediately the moment your eyes make contact with hers. Either of these responses could mean that she likes you. If she pulls away quickly, it often means she is nervous or not ready to reveal her true intentions yet, but she still likes you. If you happen to glance at the girl and you see her staring back at you, then this means that she likes you, although she may quickly dart her head in a different direction.**

"Inez is always doing that, it seems like every time I look at her, she was staring at me; but she just turns her head away quickly." Matt's excitement was slowly growing. Then he realized what he had said, "Wait, did I just say Inez? I said I would never do that! I hate myself! Idiot, idiot, stupid idiot! What if my tongue slips like that again, but next time with Ine-her?!"

**Step 6: Look at her friends; if they are giggling and pointing at you, chances are that she likes you. However, even if they aren't, she just may be so shy that she hasn't told them.**

"I don't think she told Jackie anything, Jacks would never be able to keep her mouth shut about something so 'juicy'. But, she is very shy?" Matt whispered in a half-hopeful tone.

**Step 7: Look out for moments where you can play "rescuing the damsel in distress".If you're outside and the girl you like is nearby and starts loudly saying "I'm cold!", that's a subtle hint that she wants you to give her your sweater. This is a very sweet gesture, especially if you want to show the girl that you like her. And sometimes a girl will pretend to be really bad at doing something, and say that she can't do it. That is your chance to offer some assistance; be aware that she will most likely be doing this on purpose just to see your reaction and hope that you will help out.**

"She does that all the time; at least the 'cold' thing, but she isn't testing me, is she? I mean, she's the one that helps me with my math homework. She's just so smart."

** Step 8: Smile at her. Girls tend to like guys who smile, and are happy. Use your natural smile; you don't want to freak her out. If she returns a soft or big smile and continues to look at you, then it's likely that she's interested. If not, she may just be shy.**

"Whenever I smile at her, she just smiles back with the softest, most beautiful smile that I've ever seen. She's just perfe-SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, I CAN'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT! I can't risk that just because I like her." But Matt couldn't stop himself. He continued reading so he wouldn't think anything else about her.

**Step 9: Watch her body language. You can learn a lot about a girl by observing her body language and it goes well beyond obvious flirting signs into unconscious signals of attraction. There are a lot of signs that will tell you she's interested. For example, if a girl has her torso turned towards you in an open manner, this means that she is confident talking with you. If she has a closed body position, namely crossed arms or legs, she may be shy or nervous to talk to you. When you are both in a room- if she sits diagonally from you or across from you at the room,when she's interested, her torso is facing you in an open manner, or her shoulders and hips are facing you. Either of these signs may mean she likes you. When she is sitting and she has her legs crossed, watch her feet, if its pointed towards you, it might mean that she likes you and wants to get closer to you. Look at her lips. If she touches them constantly or bites them, she's probably very interested in you. If her lip quivers slightly when you look at her, you can almost be sure she likes you.**

"She trusts me, and I can't afford to lose her trust just because I like her. Why must she be so perfect?!"

**Step 10: Notice the little things she does for you. If she's always there for you when you need help, even like when you mention that you're really thirsty and she quickly offers you a sip from her drink, she might like you. If she's always ready to offer you something you might need, go further and ask her to help you with something else, like a school, college or work problem. It shouldn't be something really easy to solve, but not too difficult either, as some girls might say that they don't know how to help you with a more challenging problem. If she's eager to help you, she probably likes you.**

"Oh no, there is no way she can't solve a school problem, I've never anyone seen anyone as smart and intelligent as her."

"A quiz, what is this? It's stupid." Matt clicked on it anyways.

Question 1: "If your crush was walking by with her group of her friends, what would she do?"

_"Definitely #3: Stops, and just focuses all her attention on you."_

Question 2: "Do you talk to her?"

_"#1: All the time."_

Question 3: "If your last answer was a yes of some sort, what do you talk about?"

_"#3: Everything and anything"_

Question 4: "Does she try to find out stuff about you?"

_"#1: No, she already knows everything."_

Question 5: "Is she shy around you?"

"_#4: Sometimes she goes really quiet, but with friends, she just acts normally."_

Question 6: "Out of 10, how close are you?

_"#5: 9-10."_

Question 7: "Do you find it hard to talk to her?"

_"5: Yeah... it's awkward" "It's definitely awkward, especially when she smiles at me. My tongue feels useless." thought Matt._

Question 8: "Does she avoid you?"

_"#4: NO WAY!"_

Question 9: "Does she know who your friends are?"

_"#2: Yes, every last one" "She knows it's just her and Jackie."_

Question 10: "Does she get nervous around you?"

_"#1: She goes very red and shy." "That's another reason why I lov-I mean, like her, but... oh, I don't know how I feel about her. She just makes me feel so, so, so everything. I don't know how to explain it." His mantra blared across his brain once again, almost as if it were on a timer, or triggered by his earlier thoughts: "SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, I CAN'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THIS!"_

Question 11: "Does she know you very well?"

_"#3: Yes... every last detail."_

Question 12: "Is she ever speechless when talking to you?"

_"#5: She's very shy, so, yeah."_

Question 13: "Has she ever told you that she hates you?"

_"#2: Yes... but as a playful joke." "Every time I call her Nezzie." Matt felt himself getting sad, just remembering Slider, and that everyone could call her Nezzie... except Matt._

Question 14: "Do you think she likes you?

_"#4: I hope so." Matt pressed the button before he realized what he was doing. "WAIT, WHAT? DID I JUST PUT I HOPE SO?" he yelled out loud._

Jackie and Inez came in running. "What happened, Matt? You okay? We just heard you yell something." They had been studying downstairs until his yell made them come up.

Matt, who had barely covered the computer in time, got beet-red. "Uh, no, I... I just, uh, stubbed my toe, you know, the small one. That one always hurts more."

Inez smiled and said, "Matt, you're so clumsy."

Matt felt so embarrassed, "Yeah, I'm fine, really, guys."

Jackie thought it was strange because she thought she heard the words, "I hope so."; but she said nothing except, "Okay, Inez, let's go back down so we don't have to deal with crybaby Matt, here."

Matt was so embarrassed that he didn't respond to the jibe.

He still couldn't stop, so he uncovered the computer.

Question 15: "Is she single?"

_"#2: Yes, but I think she likes someone else._" "I HATE SLIDER!", but this time, Matt managed not to yell.

Question 16: "Have you ever caught her looking at you?"

_"#1: Yes... all the time"_ "Every time I look at her, she's looking at me. Then again, I do the same. But I do it because she's beautiful. I may be her friend; but, I... how could anyone like me?"

Question 17: "Do you have her mobile number?"

_"#2: Yes... We text all the time."_ "The squawk pad is close enough."

Question 18: "Does she try to make you laugh?"

_"#4: Yes... all the time"_ "Ine-She always tries to do that."

Question 19: "Does she laugh at your jokes... even the ones that are really bad?"

_"#3:Yes... to make me feel better."_ "She never likes to see me unhappy."

Question 20: "What's your favorite thing about her?"

_"#1: She's perfect in every way possible._" "I can't think about her like this, she's my friend. What if she doesn't like me? She'd hate me. I can't think about her like this." But even to his own ears, Matt thought he sounded weak.

The computer said only one thing, but it said it in bold letters: "YES, SHE LIKES YOU; WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?"

Even though Matt had never backed down from a challenge in his life, he suddenly felt like the world's weakest coward. "I just can't do it. What would she think about me if she knew what I think about her? No, I can't do it. I'll just try not to think about it. I'll just... I don't know, distract myself, I guess." Matt simply shut down Chrome, turned off the computer, and dozed off into a dreamless, tiring sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

INCOMING SHIP! ALERT, INCOMING SHIP! ALERT, INCOMING SH-

"Finally, eh, Earthlies?" drawled Digit.

"You said it, Digit. Who knew Motherboard's speakers could get so loud?" said Matt.

"Matt, are you serious? The question you should be asking is: Whose ship is coming? You know Motherboard's sensors don't go off for friendly ships." asked Jackie.

"Well, in my defence, those alarms were so loud that my brain is still rattling."

"Guys, be quiet. I'm trying to think, here. Matt, can you pull up the sensors and see if we can find out if the ship is friendly or not?" Inez said calmly.

"You got it, Nezzie." said Matt.

Matt flinched visibly: he knew what was coming his way, now. Inez's Death Stare.

Inez sighed, _"I won't deal with that right now; just give him a look... There, he flinched. That'll be good for now." _

He gave it a name for 2 reasons: One, it was kind of like the Death Star in Star Wars (his favorite movie series); and two, it made him feel him like he wanted to kill himself. There, he knew it, Inez gave him the Death Stare.

Jackie whipped her head around in time to see his involuntary reaction. She gave him a knowing look, but Matt had his eyes focused on the screen.

"Is that actually _Ledge's _ship; is he daring to come near us after he betrayed us?!"

Jackie, distracted by Matt's yell, looked at the screen. She immediately yelled out, "We've got to stop him! Come on! Let's get the cybercoup."

"Ahem, if you'll allow me to stop your panicking to remind you of some more bad news, I would like to remind you that our weapons were disabled on the last mission. Don't you remember that? We've got no choice but to let him land!" reminded Digit.

Inez's thoughts ran along the lines of, _"Matt sounds so cute when he's angry. Like right now, when he was ranting about Ledge. He always sounds so bold when he... Wait, NO WEAPONS?!"_

"This is not good, this is not good at all!" said Inez. She automatically turned to Matt to see his reaction. He seemed to be... out of it somehow. _"He's just staring at me kind of strangely; I wonder why?"_

Matt couldn't worry about anything right now. Inez was just so cute when she said that. Sometimes, she even bit her-

"Hello, Cyberspace to Matt, Cyberspace to Matt. Can you hear us?!" yelled out Digit sarcastically. "You got a plan to save us?"

"Uh... Well... Doesn't Motherboard have some defence systems?"

"You're as bad as Jackie, Matt." said Digit, still with an edge in his voice. "Motherboard's primary AND secondary defences were temporarily disabled because of Hacker's magnetite attack."

"So we've been defenceless this entire time?" asked Matt, wide-eyed.

"Hello, why do you think I'm worried? The only reason that the weapons haven't been our priority is that Hacker hasn't moved for a little while. We thought we had more time."

"Yeah, well, we clearly don't."

"Okay calm down, guys. We've already scanned _Ledge's _ship, and it has no weapons or explosives." Inez spat out the name as if it were poison. "So, we seem to be pretty safe, at least for now."

"Besides, with all 4 of us here, we can probably take care of him really easily." said Jackie with a confidence that she didn't feel.

"Well, just let him in. There's nothing we can do now." said Inez. She felt almost sick when she said that.

"He even has a tractor beam on the door so that we can't close it on him. He thought of everything. He has the perfect plan!" said Matt with a voice of pure frustration and anger. "Why does he have to be _so _smart?! He's worse than Hacker. Hacker is pure evil, but at least most of his plans are stupid, or not thought out well. Ledge got us all with that Hackerizing machine." said Matt angrily. "Except _you, Inez._ You were smarter than him." Matt's voice softened as he reached Inez's name.

Inez felt her face getting hot as she heard Matt's voice change suddenly. _"I... I" _her mind whirled in a hundred different directions. _"He sounded like he was trying to be gentle! He's never..."_

Jackie also noticed the subtle change in Matt's voice. The meaning of Matt's and Inez's slow response times while looking at each other wasn't lost on her, either. Besides, she was afraid (and wanted to try something out); so she said, "Hey, guys, I have an idea. Can we get Motherboard to open up a portal so tha-"

"I already thought of that, Jackie. The problem is that Ledge has a force field around his ship, so we can't teleport him somewhere else. And no, we can't teleport anything out, either, he's got that covered." said Digit, as if he were struggling to keep his patience in check.

"-_Ahem, if you will allow me to give you some news, I would like to tell you that that is not my plan._" said Jackie, clearly mimicking Digit for his earlier snide comments. "We can't get anything out, right?"

"Right," said Digit. "Just like I told yo-"

"_Right, _so, that means that we can get something or someone _in_, right?"

"Right." said Digit in a curt monotone.

"So, we get _Slider _to come here and help us."

Matt immediately looked at Inez to see her reaction. He _hated_ that she looked happy and excited. "I wish that she looked like that when I'm here-**I CAN'T THINK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT, SHE'S MY FRIEND!" **he thought.

Inez's head was spinning; but something suddenly cleared her head, _"Slider?!" _ Matt was confusing: he made her feel tingly, and filled and empty and everything at the same time. Slider was easy. He was simple. He was awesome, and good-looking, too. She almost jumped with happiness and excitement. "That's a great idea!"

Inez suddenly felt a stab of guilt and empathy. All she had done was look at Matt, but... she thought she saw a flash of anger and... something else ripple across his face as he saw her reaction.

Inez's only thought was, _"Oh, MATT! Don't look like that. You need to have that amazing smile you alwa-__**ACK! NO WAY, HE'S MY FRIEND! HE'S MY FRIEND! Don't think about him like that! HE'S MY FRIEND!**_


End file.
